schneider



MPUCATION FILED )UNE I6. 1919.

Patemd oet-7,1919.

6 SHEETS-SHEET l.

E. SCHNEIDER. APPARMUS FOR LAUNCHING TORPEDUES FROM UNDER WATER TUBES.

APPLICTIONIFILED )UNE 16. 1919.

Patented Oct. 7,1919.

6 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

Cmss H E. SCHNEIDER.

APPARATUS FOR LAUNCHING TORPEDOES FROM UNDER WATER TUBES.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE 16. 1919.

Patented Oct. 7, 1919.

6 SHEETS--SHEET 3 f I l inning-l.

im. amps..

E. SCHNEIDER.

APPARATUS TOR LAuNcHTNG ToRPEDoEs FROM UNDER WATER TUBES.

. APLTcATloN r|LEo1uNE1s.191s. 1,318,014. Patented Oct. 711919.

6 SHEETS-SHEET 4.

114. sms,

Cross Reem Ig E. SCHNEIDER.

APPARATUS FOR LAUNCHING IORPEDOES FROM UNDER WATER TUBES.

APPLICATION FILED IUNE I6. I9I9.

Patented Oct. 7, 1919.

6 SHEETS-SHEET 5.

TMB COLUMBIA PLANomml'n cn.. wAsHmnmN. n. c.

i I I E. SCHNEIDER.

APPARATUS FOR LAUNCHING TORIEDOES FROM UNDER WATER TUBES.

` APPLCATON FILED JUNE l5 1919. 1,318,014. Patented 0ct.7.,1919.

6 SHEETS-SHEET 6.

UNTED STATES PAENT, QFFCE EUGENE SCHNEIDER, 0E PamsrnANCE, `esslenon 'ro SCHNEIDER, .a CIE., or PARIS,

FRANCE, A LnvnfrEE. JorN-'r-srocx COMPANY oE FRANCE.

APPARATUS TOBPFIDOES FROM UNDER-WATER TUBES..

specification of netter; raient.X

Patented Oct. 7, 1919.

Application filed .Tune 16, Seriall No. 304,652.

To all 'whom t may concern:

Be it known that I, EUGENE SCHNEIDER, a resident of Paris, in the Republic off France, have invented4 new and useful Iniprovements in Apparatus for Launching Torpedoes from Under-Tater Tubes, which invention is `fully set forth. in the following specification.

1n my earlier. application. 'filed 10th lSep.- tember, 1918, Ser. No. 2531955,A I have def scribed an apparatus adaptedl to` u'nder.c water tubes for launching torpedoes. forV use in submarines and other. vessels, which. allows the person charged withtheoperations to 'effect by'a singlemovementthethree following. successive operations, namelyz.,

1.-The openin ofV the. door .that closes the front end of t 1e tube..

2.-The liberation ofthe torpedoi that is held back in the tubeb'y.. devices such as brakes, bolts or thelike. Y

3.--The` release .of the ejecting .device proper which comprises according to the circumstances of the case, either the ignition .of a powder charge, or the` setting into operation of a blast of compressed air, or the .actuation of an ejecting piston, etc.

The present invention has foritsobject to provide an improved apparatus of. this kind.

The prese-nt improvement consists in combining the counter-rod of the operating piston with a mechanism for producing` auto matic-ally. the opening of the air conservation valve of the torpedo. i

Hitherto it has been necessary to open this valve by hand by means of a key. As iswell known, this valve is arranged on the piping that establishes communication between the air reservoir and the valveforf admitting air to the engine. This valve is in general operated automatically by a lever projecting from the torpedo, said lever. on meetinga tappet. which projects into the interiorl of the torpedo-launching tube, being turned back as the torpedo is driven out of the tube. It has not always been possiblev to'keep this valve airtight, so that the compressed air in the launching reservoir has sometimes escaped little by little through this valve, and the reservoir has been emptied. The

interposition of the conservation valve has.

11o-other object than to assure with certainty the conservation of the air in the reservoir. The .forgetting to open this valve would have. the serious drawback of rendering the launching inoperative*l since the torpedo would stop immediately after leavingthe tube. As the communication between the launching reservoir and the engine would be shut oi, the compressed air cou-ld not reach .the engine, and the latter would not work.

in an apparatus provided on thecounter-rod y of the operating piston, which apparatus is combined ,with -a"key for actuating the conservation :valve insuch a manner as to impart tothe latter a rotational motion which will-.cause it to be opened by means of the erred to are-being efected, this being done said key, and to insure that the said key will then move out of the way to allow of an unhindered exit of the torpedo.

A constructional form of this improved apparatus is illustrated by way of example in thegaccompanying drawings in which:

Figure 1 is a longitudinal section on the line I-I of Fig. 2 showing the parts mounted on the counter-rod of the piston. l

Fig. 2 is in onehalf a half plan of the general arrangement of the improved apparatus, and in its other half a half section on the. line II-II of Fig. l.

Fig. 3 is a cross section on the line IIL-III'O Fig. 1.

Fig. 4 isa cross section on the line IV-IV of Fig. 1.

Fig. 5 is a cross section on the line V-V of Fig. 1, showing the operating key engaged on the conservation valve ready for opening the latter.

Fig. 6 isa partial plan of the same.

Figs. Tand 8 are views similar to Figs. 1 and 4;' they show the position occupied by the parts when the conservation valve is open, and the actuating key has been moved out of theway.

The counter-rod F of the operating piston is adapted to slide in a sleeve A, and it carries projecting from it at diainetrally opposite., points, two rollers o1 and a2 mounted forinstance on a pin as and fixed bv means of a washer a* and a screw a5. ach' of these` rollers works in a helical groove a6 forlned in the sleeve A.l The sleeve A is held in place by bearings D1 and D2 formed on-lthe torpedoflaunchingftube Din such:

manner that the said sleeve 4.cannot move` longitudinally. The number of rollers and corresponding grooves may of course be carried as desired.

A second sleeve B mounted onthe'sleeve A carries a cam 1 which is designed as hereinafter described to cause the actuating key G ofthe conservation valve to -move out of the Way.l

Anrordinary construction of this valve is shownin F ig.y 5. S is the valve proper. To raise this valve it is necessary toengage a key on the square end s of the valve spindle and to rotatethisspindle on its oWn axis.4

The sleeve B is adapted to slide along the sleeve A byfmeans of a groove b guided on a feather a7 that. compels the sleeve B ,torotate 'with the sleeve A. y

This sleeve Bfhas an externalscrew-thread Workingin the. internal screw-threadV of a nut C mounted in the bearingDf to which the nut., is fixed by means of aV set screwl d1. Beyond the cam.. b1, th e sleeve B terminates in, a,eylindrica1--p0rtoi1 j Th; .freeend .of the sleeve A carriesa `Wheel E'vvithhelical teetha This Wheel islocked against a conicalbearing surface of the sleeve A bymeansof a nutef; it canhoweven be made'looseby slacking thenut e1. l

ThebearingDl. has a lug in which isfixed an axle pin Z4 formingthepivot for the hub L of. a bent lever Z1- 2,' the arm Z? of` which is draWnvby a spring. Z3 so. that'it :has a constant tendency tobear against the cylindrical Kportion of thesleeve B. The other arm. Z1 ends in a fork the limbs of which carry pinsZ5 engaging in agroove formed. in the upper Vend of. the key Glfor operatingtheair conservation valve of thetorpedo.

The lower.' portion ofthe key G isengaged on the square end of the head 8 of-fthe valve spindleso as to move thelatter with it in its rotational motion and so as to beable to slide along4 it in, its rising and' falling. movements. The key isiguided in a support H carried by a box I fixed. on the.torpedoflaunchngtube T. Afnut. l servesto hold. the support H in the box I.. l

The apparatus constitutedf by thesupport H, the box I and themut 1 is provided for facilitating. .at the. moment of placingthe .torpedo into thetubathe engagement of the key onthe valve spindle since the latter cannot be strictly in line with the said key.

A helical Wheel J meshing with thewheel E is mounted looseon the support H Whereon itis'held by a4 nut jl.

A tappet Kxed on thekey byl means of a square part, engages in a groove j (Figs. 6 and 8) formed on the wheel J in such a. mannerfasto connect thelatter to the key which it carries with .it in its rotational movements.

The key terminates at its upper` end in a shouldered nut g1 against the underside of which bear.; the. two 'fingers Z5- :carried by the fork of the lever arm Z1, for the purpose of carrying the key along with it in the rising movement of the lever. These fingers also carry the key along with them in the descending movements of the lever arm Z1 bearing then upon thetappet K.

The operation is as follows:

When the torpedo U isin place in thetube T, the operatingkey G is fitted upon the squarehead s ofl the spindle.

Since thelaxes of4 these partsmay possibly -not coincide..strictly- With one another,.the

nut 1 is unscrew-.edfromthe .boXL thus freeing the supportfH Whichcan then be shifted slightly parallel to the axis oit'A the tube T until .the coincidence betweenthe axes is assured, andfthenfthelengagernent can be effect ed. y For this purpose, ,byjunscrewing thenut .61, the Wheel Eis made loose, and-the tappet K is rotated Vbyhandin such ai manner. as .to engagethe key; Gr upon .the square parts. of the valve,` nd-it is .rightfhome by causingthetappet Kto-enter the. groove jl-of the .vvheel- Jfwhich .has been. suitably; turned for this purpose.

- When the-key .sepleceftbe nuts il are 61 are .screwed up tight p. The ,improved appara tus is then ready temperate.,

The maneuver, of launching the: torpedo described 'in-my aforesaid earlier application', causes the vcounter-rod' F'to move in the direction of thefarrovv..- The rollers ctt-and a2 engagediv in thegroovesofvthe sleeve A, impart a.rotational.movement to the latter.

,(The' pitehfwhichiswidentical .fon both groovesmay be `.made ofgraduallv diminishmgsteepneSs morder tosl'acken. the rotationalmotion Aof the; sleeve at` the` moment `of releasing the mechanism, .and to: facilitate the unsticking ofthe valve). The toothed wheel E carried, aroundf bythe .sleeve Ay produces a rotational. mtion.of the wheel J 5 and. consequently of thetappet K, key G andthe spindle s of, theairconservation valve ofthe. torpedo,... This .motion causes theV valve toy open.

. Therotation of thesleeve A produces'also a rotation 0f the lsleeve B` which, .being engaged by meansof its screwethread in the nut C, receives atthe-Same-time al movement oii translation, whereby at 'a given instant which is predetermined and corresponds to the instant. when the conservation valve is almost Wholly open, the` cam. b1. Which is made in one piece with the sleeve B, bears against the arm Z2 of the lever L and causes it Vto pivot, and thus. causes also a rise of the arm Z1 and consequently a rise of the key G, which then becomes disengaged from the spindle S of the valve, and' consequently ceases to. constitute an obstacle .tothe -forward .movement o f.. the-torpedo.-4 .The end of this movement corresponds to the instant when, the torpedo ybeing released, the counter-rod F is about to actuate the launching valve in the manner described in my aforesaid e-arlier application. A concentric portion of the cam allows the extent of the rise of the key to be limited during this sho-rt interval of time.

After firing, during the maneuver of closing the tube cap, the various parts of the mechanism return by reverse movements into their initial Position.

What I claim is:

1. An improvement in torpedo launching apparatus characterized by the feature that the prolongation of the counter-rod of theoperating piston comprises a mechanism combined with a key for operating the air conservation valve of the torpedo installed on the torpedo-launching tube, the connection between the said mechanism and the said key being such that when the key has been engaged upon the spindle of the valve, after introduction of the'torpedo into the tube, the longitudinal displacement of the counter-rod will produce successively the rotation of the valve around the axis of its spindle for its opening, through the medium of a rotation of the key, and then a rising or moving of the key'out of the way.

2. An apparatus as claimed in claim l, wherein the rotational motion of the key is produced by the rotation of a sleeve having helical grooves held longitudinally between the guides of the counter-rod, in which grooves are engaged rollers carried by the said counter-rod; the said sleeve carrying a helical toothed wheel gearing with a pinion adapted to be moved by a tappet fixed to the said key; the rotational motion of the sleeve being converted into a longitudinal displacement of a second sleeve which surrounds it and is provided With a Copies o! this patent may be obtained for cam adapted to engage at the desired moment with one of the arms of a bell crank lever fulcrumed on a fixed part, the other arm of said lever' being engaged by a fork in a I`groove in the operating key.

3. In torpedo launching apparatus, a torpedo launching operating rod, a valve adapted to control fluid pressure in the torpedo, a key adapted to operate said valve and connections between said key and said rod for automatically giving rotational movement to said key for opening said valve and longitudinal movement thereto for releasing the key from said valve before launching.

4. In torpedo launching apparatus, a torpedo launching operating rod provided with a sleeve rotated by the longitudinal Inovement of said rod, a valve adapted to control fluid pressure in the torpedo, a key adapted to operate said valve and connections between said key and said sleeve for automatically giving rotational movement to said key for opening said valve and longitudinal movement thereto for releasing said key fromsaid valve before launching.

5. In torpedo launching apparatus, a torpedo launching operatingI rod provided with a sleeve rotated by the longitudinal Inovement of said rod, a second sleeve mounted on the first named sleeve and adapted `to advance over the first sleeve, a valve for controlling fluid pressure in the torpedo, a key adapted to operate said valve and connections between said key and each of said sleeves for rotating the key to open the valve and to withdraw the key from said valve.

In testimony whereof, I have signed this specification.

EUGENE SCHNEIDER. "Witnesses:

ANDR Mos'rioknn,` CHAS. P. PREssLY.

ve cents each, by addressing the "Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. 0. 

